Thanks Steeley, appreciate the link. I did some searching last night...there's a lot of variations to people's preference on how to approach cold-bluing. Miles was also kind enough to answer some of my questions personally. Thank you, sir!

GFJ, we haven't heard from Dan on this. There was some initial discussion about this...but we were thinking of them in the context of reducing friction on the blade. After seeing Blake's 511 that Miles has posted, it does look rather coarse...and I'm not sure what the purpose would be, other than reduced mfg cost??? I agree with Pitman's earlier posts (another thread) that this looks like it may increase friction on the blade. I'm looking forward to getting mine and trying it out...in the meantime, maybe the boss will be along to give us some insight!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crossfingers.gif" alt="" />